INSPEC08366

• Permit No: C1981038
• IBM Index Class Name: Inspection
• Doc Name: INSPECTION REPORT
• Inspection Date: 11/16/1995
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

III. COMMENTS -COMPLIANCE
Below are comments on the inspection. The comments include discussion of observations made
during the inspection. Comments also describe any enforcement actions taken during the
inspection and the facts or evidence supporting the enforcement action.
This was a complete inspection of the Bowie Mine No. 1 conducted by
Tony Waldron of DMG. The first day of the inspection the inspector
was accompanied by Basil Bear of Bruin Mining Company. The second
day the inspector was unaccompanied. The mine is active and is
permitted to produce 600,000 tons of coal per year from the west
mine and 1 to 1.5 million tons per year from the main mine.
The inspection began by reviewing repair work that has been
performed on the sedimentation pond series 1-4. These are the
binwall ponds that were the subject of notice of violation C-95-012
which was issued for failure to maintain the above mentioned
sediment ponds. The problem was that the ponds were leaking a
fairly large volume of water through the binwall embankments and
their associated discharge structures; thereby, compromising the
ponds ability to treat disturbed area runoff.
In order to correct this problem the operator retained a contractor
to pressure inject polyurethane foam (PUF) into the downstream
binwall of ponds 2, 3 and 4 through 3/4 inch holes at pre-set
intervals of approximately four square feet. The objective was to
fill any voids with the PUF and eliminate water piping through the
embankment. From observations of the completed work it appears
that a significant amount of material was injected into the
embankments. The PUF had clearly exited the binwalls at a number
of places where water was observed piping through the embankments
during spring runoff events. The ponds will be inspected during
upcoming precipitation events to determine the effectiveness of the
repair plan.
The inspection continued at the west mine area where considerable
activity has occurred this past summer and fall to clean up and
organize the surface equipment storage area. The traffic areas
have been graded out and the surface drainage systems were well
maintained. The sediment pond contained water below the discharge
level.
The loadout was inspected and no problems were noted. The west
coal storage area pond was holding a small amount of water below
discharge level. Partial clean-out maintenance had been performed
on this pond earlier this fall. The east sediment pond was dry and
stable. Very little coal is currently being stored on the ground
at the loadout and almost all of the coal at the west storage area
has been shipped out.
The inspection continued on 11/30/95 beginning at the ROM coal
stockpile and the timber storage area. The surface water drainage
systems were in good condition and the sediment pond was holding a